"Squad" Rep. Ayanna Pressley's husband, Conan Harris, is holding onto a $2 billion government courthouse contract even after his business partner divested over conflict-of-interest concerns — leaving Massachusetts taxpayers on the hook for a deal two losing bidders say was rigged from the start.
The contract raises a straightforward question: does the left's loudest voice for equity practice it, or just profit from its absence?
CoJo Real Estate, where Harris serves as principal, is a partner in the Liberty Junction Team, which won a 40-year lease to redevelop the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse in Springfield, Mass. Harris's business partner, John Barros, became interim executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority in January 2026 — while the courthouse bid was still pending, according to a lawsuit reported by the Daily Caller.
The conflict is structural: several MCCA board members also sit on the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, the agency that picked the winning bid. The losing bidders allege Barros never disclosed his role in the courthouse deal to the State Ethics Commission when he accepted the MCCA post, and that the bid proposal was never updated to reflect his new position.
On Wednesday, Barros announced he would divest. "Notwithstanding the fact that John did everything right and complied fully with the law, he has determined that the significant public benefits that will come from the Liberty Junction Team's project — a beautiful, safe new courthouse and an engine for economic development in downtown Springfield — outweigh his personal interests," his lawyer, Gary Ronan, said in a statement.
Harris hasn't followed his partner out the door.
The losing bidders — Jeb Balise and Dinesh Patel — aren't satisfied. "Today's news that John Barros is stepping away from the Springfield courthouse project confirms what we have said from the start: this selection was irrevocably tainted, and no retroactive exit can undo that after the contract is already awarded," they said in a statement. "Springfield and the Commonwealth's taxpayers deserve a fair process that follows the law. For this reason, the only fair remedy is to set aside this award and redo the procurement."
Their lawsuit continues, with a hearing set for August 11.
Follow the money. Harris's business income was listed as $100,001 to $1,000,000 on Pressley's 2025 House financial disclosures, and the couple collected up to $250,000 in rent, according to the New York Post. The disclosures only provide ranges — not exact figures. Pressley has not been accused of wrongdoing in the lawsuit and apparently did not respond to requests for comment.
Barros walks away, Harris stays, and the $2 billion contract stays with their firm. Whether a retroactive divestment cures a tainted process is now a question for a Massachusetts courtroom.
